Army Vet to be deported, because of "Peacetime" se

[frigidmagi]

New York Daily

The country he served is kicking him out.

A Queens Army vet who was honorably discharged a decade ago is facing deportation to Trinidad.

The military accepted Ramdeo Chankarsingh in 1991 because he expected to get a green card under a special program. It didn't happen, and officials have denied him citizenship.

"I'm proud to be an American soldier," said Chankarsingh, 44, a father of two from South Ozone Park.

"But I don't feel good about what they're doing to me and my family. ... I feel like they used me."

The former medic, who works as a nurse, will try to persuade an immigration judge this month to let him stay.

Chankarsingh, who came to the U.S. illegally as a teen and worked in Florida orange fields, got a temporary green card through an amnesty program.

After boot camp, he did a stint as a field medic in Kosovo's Camp Bondsteel.

When his temporary green card expired in 1999, Chankarsingh went to a military judge, who told him to file for citizenship.

But when he was called for an interview a year later, the feds said because he served during peacetime he needed a valid green card.

He's been in legal limbo ever since and spent tens of thousands of dollars suing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

His latest application was passed to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which began deportation proceedings.

USCIS declined to comment.

Edward Daniels, a veterans advocate, thinks Chankarsingh should get the same rights as anyone who served in war.

"He should never have been denied," he said

I would say this is bullshit, but it's not a strong enough word. This is like Black Water Bullshit times a hundred or something ridiculous like that. And Kosovo wasn't a warzone... Okay, it wasn't Iraq or Afghan but it was still a combat zone and the troops got danger pay. And Fuck the Civies who want to make these calls anyways. Seriously you shouldn't be allowed to declare something not a combat zone or a combat zone unless you've damn well carried a fucking rifle. Someone is gonna hear about this.

[Dark Silver]

The man served the country in a hot spot, he got danger pay, as did everyone else who served there. Yes he came illegally, but he served this country and received a honorable Discharge.

Sorry, he's a citizen, now give him his fucking papers. And reimburse him for the money he had to shell out because your all incompetent fuckwits.

[B4UTRUST]

Personally, for me, fuck that. Fuck needing a warzone to qualify. If you're willing to stick your ass on the line and sign up for a job that can get you ordered off half way around the world to get shot at, if you're willing to sign that dotted line to serve, protect and defend the country, you serve honorably and leave honorably you get your damned green card. If you're willing to do your stint, defend the nation and serve proudly and honorably you've earned citizenship. There's a fuckton of people in this nation who are citizens who probably deserve it a lot less.

I have nothing against those who don't serve, mind. The military isn't for everyone and if my brother were still alive he would have ran the other way from a military recruiter. But I can honestly say that if a man is willing to sign away his life for defense of a country he now calls his own he's done something that proves, to me at least, that he's worthy of citizenship.

I'm not saying that anyone who signs up for the military should automatically get it, but if you sign up, serve proudly and honorably then it should damn well go a long way for it. Because I don't want a situation where every immigrant, legal or ill- signs a dotted line, goes to boot and gets kicked out and gets a green card. But if you do your stint in and keep your nose clean it should count for a whole hell of a lot vs some of the others who don't.

[LadyTevar]

I'm not military, but add my condemnation to those of our Military Men.

[Batman]

Okay, I'm confused. I was under the impression that if you served in the US military for X years you got citizenship, period. Am I merely misinformed or has this gotten rescinded recently?

[frigidmagi]

You are misinformed but alot of Americans think it works this way. What it is that while you're in you get an effective green card and most of the time the military gets you moved up the line. However one fucking asshole official can screw the deal as seen here.